Michigan State University (
MSU) is a
public research university located in
East Lansing, Michigan, United States. MSU was founded in 1855 and became the nation's first
land-grant institution under the
Morrill Act of 1862, serving as a model for future land-grant universities. The university was originally founded as the
Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, one of the first institutions of higher education in the country to teach scientific agriculture. Following the introduction of the
Morrill Act, the college became
coeducational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture. Today, MSU is the
eighth-largest university in the United States (in terms of enrollment) and has approximately 540,000 living alumni worldwide.